Means for breaking electric circuits



April 17, 1934. v

[BANS FOR BREAKING ELECTRIC CIRCUITS C. BRESSON Filed June 6, 1931 I I aka/Z6632" im learc Patented 17, 1934 UNITED STATES ANS FOB BREAKING. ELECTRIC CharlcsBn-an; toAtellers dc DellcJ'arisJ'hncc Am-Jamal W, France, lllllll Electrlquea :1

3:1, Serial m. 542.040 June 10, 193.

scum. (ciao-141) Intherarewhereithasbeenpro- V posed to use the electic blow out e'flect. for the breafingarc of electrical apparatus, between contacts located in a decomfluid suchas oil, extinctionoi'thearcishadbyrendei'ing saidarc unstable by extension between contacts movable widely apart. on the other hand,-.jit has also beenproposedto iacilitatetheruptureotthearc v yam'ultiplc numberotbreaks.

In such apparatus the arc flashes between the contacts and produces in the oil-1a gaseous sphere surroundingthearconallsldeathearcisthus developed in a medium which is hardly favour- In accordance with the pment invention the blowoutthetwoends otthearcalong archorns or electrodes in a direction; and at a spwdsuehthatthearciaconstantlyon the surface 01 the bubble in contact with the liquid. .Ihe gaseous products .15 able to rapid extinction.

term a very extended bubble which presents a large cooling surtace.

pplicanthasalsotoimd thatthestretchingotthearcboyond-acertainlengthdoesnot increase the rapidity oibreak, and on the contrary, produces a large development of gas which is prejudicial to the'tunctioning of the apparatus, and to a rational construction of the latter.

spaced electrodes. g The drawingillustrates dia- I a circuit breaker embodying the 3 and 3' connected to-the line and disposed inside the lead-in insulators 4, 4' mounted on the 1 cover 5 of an oil tank 6. In said tank, the oil;

level is indicated at 7. The lower extremity of the conductors 3 and 3' is immersed in the liquidmass and is connected by means of brackets 8, 8' to the inside turn of coils 19, 19 disposed inside the tank and below the oil level. The outside turn of each otthe coils is connected to contacts 10, 10' and to blow-out horns or electrodes 21, 21'. The contacts are each pivoted around an axis 11, 11' and urged thereagainst by springs'12 and 12'. Said contacts are pivoted to-the lower portion of levers 13, 13'. mounted ireely around an axis. 14. The upper parts or the levers 13, 13' are connected to the operating axis 15 of thecircuit breaker. The blow-out coils 19, 19' are each wound around a core 20. These coils are vertically disposed and rather elevated, as well as the elec- This circuit breaker comprises two conductors trodes 21 and 21', to which electrodes the outside turns of the coils are connected. when the lever 15 is drawn upwards the contacts are separated and each or them touches the upper part. oi the corresponding electrode. At this time, the 00. magnetic blow-out field oi the coils l9 and 19' blows the arc formed betweenthe movable contacts 10, 10' onto the electrodes and then displaces this are along the electrodes 21, 21', whereby said are in its totality eflectuates a rapid 63 translation movement and isquenchedbefore its roots have reached the lower end of the electrodes.

The magnetic blow-out field of the coils 19 and 19 is automatically increased by an electrodynamic blow out resulting from the fact that the electrodes 21 and 21' constitute together with the are a loop through which the current flows, and the eiectro-dynamic effects created by this loop tend to enlarge this loop and thus drive the 76 arc in a downward direction.

As the gases'coming from the arc form a bubble which is displaced upwardsand as the arc is blown out downwards, the latter is no longer surrounded by a gaseous medium as in known ar- 80 rangements but is located atthe surface of this bubble always in contact with the insulating liquid.

As a general rule it seems indicated to displace the arc in the opposite direction to that 01' the gases. If for any reason it is desired to impart to-the gases a direction other than vertical the electromagnetic blow ,out should then be opposed to this nonvertical direction. However, it is convenient to note that in certain cases the invention may be realized by displacing the arc in a direction difierent to that of the gases and not necessarily in the inverse direction of the displacement of the gases. In this latter case it is necessary to give to the blow out coils sumcient power so that the arc will be displaced at a speed such that it may be constantly placed outside the gaseous bubble in contact with the insulating liquid. 4 v The same blow out arrangement shown in the drawing is applicable to fuses in oil. It is 511111- cient to replace the contacts bya fusible conductor.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be periormed, l declare that what I claim is:

1. In an electro-magnetic device for blowing in a decomposable arc extinguishing fluid the are of electrical apparatus; substantially uni,- Iormly spaced arc horns or electrodes and means for blowing the arc along the electrodes the direction of blowing and that of the electrodes being adapted to displace the complete arc in a direction difierent from that, of the escaping gases resulting from the action of the arc on the extinguishinfi fluid.

2. In an electro-magnetic device for blowing in a decomposable arc extinguishing fluid the arc of electrical apparatus, substantially uniformly spaced arc homs or electrodes and means for blowing the are along the electrodes the direction of blowing and that of: the electrodes being adapted to displace the complete arc in a. direction opposite to that of the escaping gases resulting from the action of thearc on the extinguishing 3. In oil immersed electric circuit breakers,

movable contacts, substantially uniformly spaced electrodes disposed on either side of the contacts, 

